Press Release

12 April 2013

The Old Vic, Nica Burns and Max Weitzenhoffer present

SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH

Tennessee Williams

Directed by Marianne Elliott

Previews from 1 June 2013
Press night: 12 June 2013

SETH NUMRICH TO JOIN

JOIN KIM CATTRALL IN SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH

Acclaimed Broadway actor Seth Numrich joins Kim Cattrall in Sweet Bird of Youth, directed by
Marianne Elliott.
Elliott Tennessee Williams’s
Williams powerful and poetic play will open at The Old Vic on 12 June
2013 with previews from 1 June. Numrich most recently starred in the celebrated Broadway production
of Golden Boy and the original Broadway cast of War Horse, directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom
Morris. Also joining them are Owen Roe
Roe and Brid Brennan.
Brennan Further cast includes Charles Aitken,
Michael Begley, Daniel Betts, Ruari Cannon, Emily De Cosimo, Louise Dylan, Kurt Kansley, Sean
McConaghy, Katie Meekison, Bryonie Pritchard, Lucy Robinson, Violet Ryder, Ryan Saunders,
Alistair Scott, Anthony Taylor, Joe Townley,
Townley John Trindle and David Webber.

Fading Hollywood legend Alexandra Del Lago (Kim Cattrall) flees the disastrous premiere of her
comeback film. Travelling incognito, she seeks refuge in drink and drugs and the arms of Chance Wayne
(Seth Numrich), an idealistic young dreamer turned gigolo, hellbent on achieving his own movie
stardom. A trip to Chance’s hometown in a bid to win back his childhood sweetheart sees their
relationship of convenience unravel in Williams’s vivid and haunting portrait of the destruction of
dreams.

Kim Cattrall plays The Princess Kosmonopolis. Cattrall has had an extensive acting career that spans
film, stage and television. The British born actress recently starred in Janet Suzman’s production of
Antony and Cleopatra at the Liverpool Playhouse and The Chichester Festival Theatre. Other West
End/Broadway theatre credits include Richard Eyre’s Private Lives (Theatre Royal Bath, Vaudeville and
on Broadway), David Mamet’s The Cryptogram (Donmar), Peter Hall’s production of Whose Life is it
Anyway? (Comedy Theatre), Wild Honey (National Theatre on Broadway), Miss Julie (McCarter

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Theatre), The Misanthrope (La Jolla Playhouse and The Goodman Theatre Chicago), The Three Sisters
(Los Angeles Theatre Centre) and A View From the Bridge (Lee Strasberg Institute). Her most recent
film credits include Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer, Sex and The City and Sex and the City 2 in
which she reprised her award-winning role as the infamous ‘Samantha Jones’. Cattrall was recognized
for her work in the tv series with a Golden Globe; two Screen Actors Guild Awards; five Emmy Award
nominations and Three Screen Actors’ Guild nominations. Cattrall also starred in Channel 4’s acclaimed
production of William Boyd’s Any Human Heart. She will start in pre-production on the television
adaptation of Sensitive Skin at the end of 2013.

A best-selling author, Cattrall has written several books, including Sexual Intelligence, Being a Girl and
Navigating the Ups and Downs of Teenage Life.

In addition to her stage, screen and writing credits, Cattrall is the founder of Fertile Ground Productions,
a Canadian-based production company. Their first project was Sexual Intelligence, a feature-length HBO
documentary based on her book of the same name for which she was nominated for a Gemini as Best
Host or Interviewer in a General/Human Interest or Talk Program or Series.

In 2009 Cattrall was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame and in 2011 she was honoured by GLAAD
with the prestigious Golden Gate awards for her support of the organization.

Seth Numrich* plays Chance Wayne. Numrich recently received critical acclaim on Broadway for his role
in Golden Boy directed by Bartlett Sher (Lincoln Center Theater) and as Albert Narracott in the Lincoln
Center Theater’s heralded production of War Horse directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris
(Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater, the Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Award
nominations). He became the youngest person ever accepted to The Juilliard School’s theatre
department at the age of sixteen and made his Broadway debut in 2010 opposite Al Pacino in The
Merchant of Venice (The Public Theater). Off Broadway Numrich has appeared in numerous
productions: Slipping, Blind, Yosemite (all at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), On the Levee (LCT3),
Iphigenia 2.0 (Signature Theater), Too Much Memory, Favorites, Break My Face On Your Hand (Rising
Phoenix Rep), Gates of Gold (59E59) and Dutch Masters (LAByrinth). His regional theatrical
productions include The History Boys (CTG/Ahmanson Theater, Los Angeles), The Cure at Troy (Seattle
Rep), Measure for Measure (Chautauqua Theater Co.), Summer and Smoke (Guthrie Theater,
Minneapolis) and most recently the West Coast premiere of Slipping in which he reprised the role of Eli
(Lillian Theater, Los Angeles). Numrich has also appeared on television in Gravity, the critically
acclaimed CBS legal drama The Good Wife (CBS) and will soon appear in the highly-anticipated period
drama pilot, Turn (AMC). Film credits include Private Romeo and How to Kill a Mockingbird. Sweet Bird
of Youth at The Old Vic marks Numrich’s London stage debut.

Marianne Elliott is an Associate Director of the National Theatre, where she has directed Port, The
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (West End), Season’s Greetings, Women Beware Women,
All’s Well That Ends Well, War Horse (West End, New York – Tony Award & US Tour, Toronto, Australia),
Mrs Affleck, Harper Regan, Saint Joan (Olivier Award for Best Revival, South Bank Show Award),
Therese Raquin and Pillars of the Community (Evening Standard Best Director Award). She was an
Associate Director at the Royal Court, where her productions include Stoning Mary, Notes on Falling
Leaves, The Sugar Syndrome and Local.

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Previously she was an Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester where she directed
Port, Design for Living, Les Blancs, As You Like It, A Woman of No Importance, Nude With Violin, Fast
Food, Martin Yesterday, Deep Blue Sea, Mad for It, Poor Superman and I Have Been Here Before. Other
theatre credits include Much Ado About Nothing for the RSC, The Little Foxes at the Donmar and
Terracotta at Hampstead and Birmingham Rep. Film credits include Alice (her first short film for Ruby
Films). Future theatre projects include The Light Princess (National Theatre).

Owen Roe plays Boss Finley. Roe is one of Ireland’s foremost film, TV and theatre actors, having most
recently appeared on stage in King Lear (Abbey Theatre), directed by Selina Cartmell. His other
extensive theatre credits include The Plough and the Stars (Abbey Theatre), Brian Friel’s Faith Healer,
Catastrophe, Festen, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, Da and Glengarry Glenross, for which he received an Irish
Times Theatre Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor (Gate Theatre, Dublin). In 2011 Roe
reprised his role as Hamm in Beckett’s Endgame (US tour). On television he has appeared as Brendan
O’Connor in Prisoners’ Wives (ITV) as well as Single Handed, Prosperity, Val Falvey TD (RTE) and Rásaí
na Gaillimhe (TG4/Great Western). Film credits include Michael Collins, Sensation and When Harvey Met
Bob.

Brid Brennan plays Aunt Nonnie. Brennan has numerous theatre credits to her name which include
Henry V (Globe), The Veil and Pillars Of The Community (National), Philadelphia Here I Come (Gaiety
Theatre), Brendan At The Chelsea (Riverside Studios), Doubt (Abbey Theatre Dublin) and By The Bog
Of Cats (Wyndhams). She also received an Olivier Award nomination for her role in The Little Foxes
(Donmar) and for her role in Rutherford & Son (National). Brennan also received a Tony Award for Best
Featured Actress in Dancing at Lughnasa (Abbey Theatre Dublin/National Theatre/West
End/Broadway). Other theatre credits include A Kind Of Alaska (Donmar/Lincoln Centre NYC), Macbeth
(RSC) and The Playboy Of The Western World (Druid Theatre Co., Galway/Donmar). On television, she
has appeared in The Escape Artist, Upstairs Downstairs, South Riding, Little Crackers, Dr Who and Trial
& Retribution. Film credits include Shadow Dancer (Edinburgh International Film Festival Award for Best
Performance in a British Feature Film 2012), Topsy Turvy and Dancing At Lughnasa (Ifta Best Actress
1999).

Further cast include: Charles Aitken (King Lear at the RSC and in NY, The Lady Vanishes for BBC1 and
Foyle’s War for ITV); Michael Begley;
Begley Daniel Betts (Criminal Justice and Silent Witness for the BBC,
The Bill for ITV); Ruari Cannon (Oliver and High School Musical at The Edinburgh Playhouse, World War
Z); Emily De Cosimo;
Cosimo Louise Dylan (Bus Stop at The Young Vic, Endeavour for ITV, Call the Midwife
for the BBC), Kurt Kansley (Ragtime and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Regent’s Park Theatre) Sean
McConaghy (Calloused Hands, Troilus and Cressida at the RSC), Katie Meekison (Guys and Dolls and A
Midsummer Night’s Dream at LAMDA), Bryonie Pritchard (Rope for Devonshire Park, History of the
World for the BBC, ), Lucy Robinson (Cause Célèbre at The Old Vic, Call the Midwife for the BBC, The
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), Violet Ryder (Romeo and Juliet at The Camden People’s Theatre, Lullabies
of Broadmoor at The Finborough Theatre), Ryan Saunders (The Madness of George III and The History
Scott Anthony Taylor (Peer Gynt and Romeo and Juliet at the
Boys for Theatre Royal Bath); Alistair Scott;
National Theatre, Kick Ass 2), Joe Townley (trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts); John
Trindle (War Horse in the West End, Equus at the Theatre Royal Bath and UK tour) and David Webber
(The Government Inspector at The Young Vic).

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*Seth Numrich is appearing with the permission of UK Equity, incorporating the Variety Artistes'
Federation, pursuant to an exchange program between American Equity and UK Equity.

Director Marianne Elliott

Designer Rae Smith
Lighting Bruno Poet
Music & Sound Dan Jones
Dramaturg James Graham
Casting Sarah Bird
US Casting Daniel Swee

For press enquiries please contact:

Jo Allan: jo@joallanpr.com / 07889 905 850 / + 44 (0)20 7520 9392

Anna Dawson: anna@joallanpr.com / 077420 16964 / + 44 (0) 20 7520 9392

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BOX OFFICE INFORMATION

Box Office: 0844 871 7628

www.oldvictheatre.com
The Old Vic, The Cut, London SE1 8NB

Sweet Bird of Youth

Tennessee Williams

Sat 1 June – Sat 31 August 2013

Previews: 1-11 June; Press Performance: 12 June at 7pm
Mon–Sat 7.30pm; Wed & Sat 2.30pm
[Please note there are no matinee performances on Sat 1 June, Wed 5 June or Wed 12 June.]

Post Show Discussion: Mon 17 June

TICKETS: £11, £16, £21, £28, £42, £52

For more information regarding Premium Seats for all productions please call the box office.

CONCESSIONS

PwC tickets for Under 25s: 100 £12 tickets for all performances. Bookable in advance for the under 25s
but tickets must be collected in person from the Box Office with proof of age.

Senior Citizens: Best available seats for £26 for all matinee performances only.

Groups 10+: £10 off top 3 prices for Mon - Wed evenings & Wed matinees when scheduled.

School Groups 10+: £12 for Mon - Wed evenings & Wed matinees when scheduled.

Disabled Patrons: Top 3 prices reduced to £21 for all performances

Previews: £5 off top 3 prices (Old Vic Friends £7.50 off)

All concessions are limited and subject to availability. All 2013 ticket prices (apart from the PwC tickets for Under
25s, local residents & schools tickets) include a £1 restoration levy.

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Notes to Editors

About Bank of America Merrill Lynch and the Arts

Developing substantive solutions for social and environmental challenges is at the core of Bank of
America Merrill Lynch’s mission, and the arts and culture platform is a key component of the company’s
integrated corporate responsibility strategy.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch helps a broad spectrum of arts programmes thrive, encompassing
sponsorships, community grants and loans to museums from the company’s own art collection. The
Bank of America Merrill Lynch Art Conservation Project provides grants for the restoration of paintings,
sculptures, archaeological or architectural pieces that are significant to the cultural heritage of a country
or region or important to the history of art in order to preserve them for future generations.

Recent and upcoming sponsorships include, Americans in Florence: Sargent and the American
Impressionists at the Palazzo Strozzi, Florence (March – July 2012), Jeff Koons: The Painter & The
Sculptor at Schirn Kunsthalle and the Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung, Frankfurt (June – September
2012) and Roy Lichtenstein at Tate Modern, London (February – May 2013) which travels to Paris in
July 2013. The company is Season Sponsor of The Old Vic in London, as well as Global Sponsor of the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which travelled to Russia and Italy in 2012.

Through the company’s Art in Our Communities® programme, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Collection has been converted into a unique community resource. The collection has grown in size and
scope in recent decades with artworks from numerous legacy institutions, and offers museums and non-
profit galleries the opportunity to borrow complete or customised exhibitions at no cost. This helps to
secure vital revenue for those institutions that may lack sufficient resources to fully curate and manage
exhibitions on their own, and also guarantees that the collection is shared with as wide an audience as
possible. Since its launch in late 2008, more than 50 exhibitions have been loaned to museums around
the world. Shows in 2012 included Conversations at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) in Dublin,
Shared Space, part of PhotoEspaña 2012, at the Real Jardín Botánico in Madrid (June – July 2012),
Andy Warhol: The Portfolios at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London (June – September 2012) which is
currently showing at the Museo del Novecento in Milan (April – September 2013), and Gaze: The
Changing Face of Portrait Photography, at Istanbul Modern Museum (October 2012 – January 2013).
Learn more at www.bankofamerica.com/about and follow us on Twitter at @BofA_Community.

For more Bank of America news, visit the Bank of America newsroom - www.bankofamerica.com

About PwC

PwC firms help organisations and individuals create the value they're looking for. We're a network of
firms with 169,000 people in more than 158 countries who are committed to delivering quality in
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www.pwc.com

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The Old Vic would like to thank Biffa Award for its generous donation of £50,000 towards the cost of
replacing the flooring and the carpets of the Upper Circle and, thus, helping to preserve our historic
theatre for posterity. Biffa Award is a multi-million pound fund which awards grants to community and
environmental projects across the UK. The fund's money comes from landfill tax credits donated by Biffa
Waste Services.

Since 1997, the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT) has been awarding grants to environmental and
community projects under the fund name Biffa Award. The fund administers money donated by Biffa
Group Ltd, a leading integrated waste management business.

Under the Landfill Tax Regulations 1996, landfill operators like Biffa Group Ltd are liable for taxes on
waste deposited in landfill sites. The Landfill Communities Fund allows them to donate a small
percentage of their tax liability to projects working to improve communities living within the vicinity of
landfill sites. To date, Biffa Award has awarded grants totalling more than £125 million to hundreds of
worthwhile projects.

www.biffa-award.org

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The Old Vic Season Sponsor

Partnering The Old Vic

Production Supporter

The Old Vic gratefully acknowledges an award of £5 million in 2012 from the Catalyst Arts Endowment Fund,
conditional on our raising £15 million match funding by 2015.